After Diwali, the city police said they had arrested 222 persons for violation of Supreme Court order of bursting crackers only between 8 pm and 10 pm. At the first glance, it may seem like an impressive figure, for it suggests that only these many people in the approximately 75-lakh population of the city broke the rule.

But a closer look at the profiles of the arrested persons and the places from where they were picked up points at a different story. Ahmedabad city police’s jurisdiction is divided in seven zones with 48 police stations. Maximum arrests on the two Diwali days (November 7 and 8) happened in zone IV, situated in eastern Ahmedabad and known to be mainly inhabited by people from the lower income strata of the society.

Meanwhile, zones I and VII, covering the posh localities of western Ahmedabad, appeared to be obedient to the police. So was it just the poor breaking the rule most of the time, or could the cops see only them? Zone I and VII include areas including Vastrapur, Ghatlodia, Naranpura, Navrangpura, Vasna, Ellisbridge, Paldi, Satellite and Anandnagar among others. The 15 police stations in this zone registered 51 of the total 222 arrests.

Zone IV covers just seven areas Zone IV covers just seven areas—Dariapur, Shahibaug, Sardarnagar, Airport, Naroda, Krushnanagar and Meghaninagar. On November 7 and 8, the seven police stations booked 91 persons for violation. Five of these registered the maximum number of cases in the city. Zone II followed, with 34 arrests. The areas under it include Sabarmati, Ranip, Chandkheda, Shahpur, Karanj, etc.

Were the ‘rich’ zones really obedient?

According to residents of these zones, cracker noises could be heard at least till midnight. Also crackers were being burst on the main roads, posing grave danger to commuters. Paldi resident Ankita Venkateshan said, “People were bursting crackers till midnight near my society.”

Seconding her, Neha Petal, resident of Gulbai Tekra, claimed people in her area continued to burst crackers till midnight, adding that the intensity of bursting in fact increased after the 10 pm deadline. Arusha Syed, resident of Navrangpura, said, “Bombs were constantly exploding over an extended period of time. It was infuriating. No one really obeyed the SC rule.”

Some didn’t know, others were just watching

Mirror spoke to a few of the persons arrested by the cops. While a few of them pleaded ignorance about the SC rule, several others said they were simply bystanders when the crackers were being burst and had been arrested for no fault of theirs. Mitesh Chunara (22), a housekeeping supervisor, was arrested by Vejalpur police on the night of Diwali. “I was sitting on the bench near the street where a few boys were bursting crackers. Police came and detained me. I was not at fault,” he said.

Just like him, Abhishek Thakur (20) was only a spectator to the show of fireworks when the Ellisbridge police reached the place and took him along. Thakur, who does menial jobs for a living, said, “I did not do anything, I was just watching a few people bursting crackers and enjoying it.” Then there were the likes of Varun Upadhyaya who were not aware about the deadline. The 30-year-old resident of Vasna said, “We were bursting firecrackers at around 11 pm. The cops came and took me to the nearby police station saying that I have violated the Supreme Court notification. I didn’t even know about it.”

He too does low-paying jobs. Harish Katara had gone to the ground near Iskcon crossroads where crackers were being burst. The 20-year-old domestic help in Satellite said, “People were bursting firecrackers at the ground and I too had gone to watch it. The police came and warned but nobody stopped so they took us away. I didn’t know about the deadline.”

Some like Karan Khurana were allegedly picked up randomly. The 28-year-old’s mother said, “There were more than 50 people bursting firecrackers that day but the (Vastrapur) police detained just my son.” Khurana works for a private company.

‘No discrimination’

When police commissioner AK Singh was asked about the arrests, he said, “I am yet to debrief our officers on the statistics for Diwali but I believe there is no such differentiation between the rich and poor. Discrimination is not our way of working. However, it was the first time for the order and we will definitely want to have course correction if something is not working properly.”

On the huge difference in the number of arrests in the zones, he added, “There is no single template by which officers work. Some have outperformed others. All we tried to do was make sure there was some kind of acceptance of the order among the public. So, it is wrong to say that we discriminated.”

He blamed the situation on lack of awareness about the rule as well as insufficient time for the police to spread the awareness. “Those who have access to social media and other media were aware about the SC order. Sane voices on these platforms hit traction with the educated and the well-off. The fact that there is less awareness on one side of the river can be attributed to how the city has developed over the years,” he said.

The police had carried out awareness drives in several parts of the city. Asked about their impact, he said, “Such a major change takes time to be accepted and that is what we did not have. We started making announcements on the public address (PA) systems and awareness drives were held in some parts of the city but that was not enough. We need to do more going forward.”

Discrimination is not our way of working. However, it was the first time for the order and we will definitely want to have course correction if something is not working properly.

A K Singh, police commissioner

Bombs were exploding over an extended period of time. It was really infuriating. No one really obeyed the SC rule.

Arusha Syed, Navrangpura

In fact, more firecrackers were burst after the deadline given by the SC. Post 10 pm, the noise was unbearable

Neha Patel, Gulbai Tekra

I was sitting on bench where a few boys were bursting crackers. Police came and detained me. I was not at fault

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